The Ravens Curse
by thesmilingdemon
Summary: A girl, orphaned at a young age goes to Hogwarts for saftey. She meets many new people, including the Weasleys but she is haunted by a curse that will loom over her for the rest of her life and may even bring an end to it.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and any characters that you may recognize that credit goes to J.K. Rowling :)**_

_Whilst we walk to our destination_

_I see a raven _

_Draped in a white robe of snow_

_Her smile red of berries_

_And talons sharp for war_

_I walk on,_

_Her piercing eyes_

_And floating steps_

_Lingering in my mind._

It was the first day of September and the Weasley family had woken up early (with great screaming and shaking by Mrs. Weasley) for the first day of Hogwarts for two of the now seven Weasley children. It was seven o'clock in the morning and the smell of fried egg, sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes, black pudding and toast were slowly tempting the children out of their sleeping state-of-mind to their eating state-of-mind; this was an old trick of Mrs. Weasley, if they're awake enough to eat they're awake enough to work and they can't have an excuse of being tired.

Bill was thirteen now and going into his fourth year at Hogwarts, and Charlie was eleven and starting his second year at Hogwarts; Hogwarts entry is at age ten and Percy was seven, Fred and George were five, Ron was three and Ginny was two so they weren't Hogwarts students yet but still had to come along for the trip. Percy would rather be reading books, Fred and George would rather be thinking up pranks, Ron would be napping either way and Ginny would be showing off her perfect running skills (she seemed to have skipped from crawling to running and hasn't wanted to walk yet) and try yet again to explore the hills around the Burrow (the Weasley home).

After the screams of "Did you forget anything?", "Do you have Errol packed?", "Did you pick up your sandwiches for the road?" and "Charlie, don't forget your broom! You can try out for Quidditch this year!" the nine of them packed into a muggle eight-seated car. Mr. Weasley drove the car with Mrs. Weasley (with Ginny on her lap) in the right seat and Ron in the middle seat; Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George sat comfortably next to each other in the second row (of course Mr. Weasley put just a few magical changes to make it better accommodate his family-but don't tell the Ministry of Magic that).

They drove for a while through the country with all to see were cows and grass. Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny were all asleep, Bill and Charlie were playing cards and Percy was reading a complicated looking book. "I win! That's seven Knuts there mate, hand it over," Bill broke the silence throwing down the muggle playing cards (completely worthless in his opinion-the faces on the cards don't even move) he got for his birthday from his muggle obsessed father.

"That's the fifth time in a row! You must be cheating! You enchanted your cards didn't you," Charlie retorted, still handing over the seven Knuts.

"Now, boys, don't go around playing with money. That money will have to last you all year," Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"All year," Bill complained, "I got twice as much as this my first year!"

"You didn't get twice as much, it just seemed like more when you were smaller," Mrs. Weasley argued, "and all you need is money for Hogsmead, so I don't know what the fuss is about, that's plenty!"

"Not when Bill spends six sickles every trip on tea from Madame Puddifoots!" Charlie commented and laughed, bracing himself for the punch he knew he was going to get from his elder brother.

"Bill, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," Mrs. Weasley gasped and chuckled, "me and Arthur went to Madame Puddifoots for dates all the time, but we didn't date until about sixth year! Isn't third year a little too early to be dating?"

"Mom, it's nothing! We just went as friends, really! Right Charlie," Bill said coolly, adding a convincing punch to Charlie.

"Ouch! What was that for-ouch! Yes, just friends, nothing like a romantic date with his girlfriend or anything-ouch! Well, you know she is quite ugly so why-ouch! Mom, make him stop-ouch!"

"Now boys, stop it. You don't want to start this year with bruises all over your arms."

"It's okay Mom, I won't have any bruises because Charlie can't fight," Bill teased and that started a giant brawl in the backseat. Fists were flying hitting anywhere they could reach, and soon enough the whole car was awake and wanting to add to the noise. Ginny was crying and the twins wanted to join in, while Percy's complaints were unheard over all the noise. Just then, the car suddenly came to an abrupt stop and everything and everyone flew forward and stopped the fights in the confusion.

"What's wrong Father," Percy asked seriously, closing his book for the first time all day.

"That Raven," Mr. Weasley muttered, "Has been following us this whole time." It was light outside and you could clearly see a large black bird circling above as if it were waiting for the car to keep moving. The strangest thing was the Raven had something in its mouth that looked like a crisp white letter. Mr. Weasley got out of the car and put his arm out. "It's strange for someone to send a Raven to deliver messages, owls are much more reliable." The Raven dove down at him as if going for its prey and then curved up at the last second to land on the car. It put down the letter and Mr. Weasley reached toward it uncertainly but the Raven pecked at his hand and put a talon over the letter as if it didn't want him to take it. "Ouch! Well isn't that for me?" It pointed with its beak to a name on the letter: _Albus Dumbledore_. "Albus Dumbledore? You want to take this letter to Dumbledore? Then why are you following me? …. You want me to lead you to him? There's no return address. How am I to know it's not something meant to harm him?"

"Arthur, what's wrong? The letter's for Dumbledore?" Mrs. Weasley jumped out of the car (handing Ginny to Percy, who took her unwillingly) and hurried over to Arthur's side. The Raven picked up the letter and almost as if reluctant to it handed over the letter. Mr. Weasley took it and flipped it over to see that it was sealed with green wax with no imprint. Above the seal were the words: _Reading others letters is a very disgusting deed but I'll allow it so that you may see that no harm is meant_. Mr. Weasley looked taken aback but opened the letter anyway and carefully a pulled out a piece of folded parchment. He unfolded the parchment to see childish scrawl in black ink reading:

_Dear Mr. Albus Dumbledore,_

_ Voldemort has been gone for the last two years with no worries from the general public but you and I both know that there are many dark ways of coming back from the dead that he is not scared of using. Before he disappeared he had started an experiment, he was creating a weapon. Her name is Victoria; his and Ann Whicknairs daughter. _

_As you know Ann and her young son were found dead in their home. He had planned to train Victoria to do his dirty work and once he heard her older brother (who was the first attempt in this experiment and a failure) convincing her not to do it he was killed and his "useless" mother as well. Victoria was then left to be brainwashed by Voldemort. He made her into a morphageous and sent her to do his bidding and be his, if you will, "Hermes." She was only three but incredibly powerful and in control of her powers due to the animagus._

_ A cloaked man came to Voldemorts door with the address to the Potters home. On that day he left to kill Harry Potter, and as you know he failed and disappeared. He never came back to the home he was keeping Victoria in and she was left to take care of herself. At the age of three she obviously didn't know how to take care of herself but in Animagus form she had the instinct and scavenged food from the wilderness and from humans. She kept well informed from muggle and wizarding newspapers and developed some use of English speech, numbers and writing. Two years later she is now five and looking for a place her brother once told her of, Hogwarts. He said that at age ten he could escape and go to Hogwarts and they wouldn't care who his father was they'd take him anyway and he'd be safe. Hogwarts is the only place she can associate with the word "safe" and she needs a safe place. She's only five but please Mr. Dumbledore, help her. _

_ Sincerely,_

_Victoria Hermes Riddle_

Mr. Weasley folded the letter silently and put it back in the envelope handing it to the bird who took it back. Mrs. Weasley who had been reading over his shoulder looked shocked and out of words. Mr. Weasley stood there for a minute, thinking. Bill opened the car door and sighed, "What's all the fuss about it's just a letter can't we go?"

"Just stay in the car Bill!"Mrs. Weasley hissed and hurried over, seeing the mess of cards all over the floor, "Why did you just leave these here? Don't you want to play cards?" she exclaimed, glad to have something to keep her occupied.

"We'll take you." Mr. Weasley spoke wearily as if he hadn't had food or water for days. "Just follow us to the station and we'll take you through the wall but after that just follow the train, don't bother any of the kids." The Raven nodded and flew into the air and began circling again.

The Weasleys got back into the car and drove to the London station. After struggling to find a place to park, they simply looked around to see that nobody was looking and magically added a new parking space. They hurried to get the boys trunks out of the back trunk of the car, Fred and George fighting over who was to help delaying the process. Mr. Weasley put out his arm and the Raven came to join the Weasley circus. They hustled through the crowd of gloomily dressed muggles, standing out brilliantly with giant trunks, birds, shabby mismatched clothes and flaming red hair. They reached a wall between platforms nine and ten and walked through the wall in groups: Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Charlie first, Bill, Fred and George second, Mr. Weasley, the Raven, Ron and Percy last. They appeared at Platform nine-and-three-quarters ten minutes until eleven o'clock. The boys found their friends and loaded their trunks into separate carriages. Bill and Charlie kissed their mother goodbye, and went to their seats just a minute before eleven o'clock. The train left with nothing different from any year besides the fact that a Raven with a crisp white letter in its beak was following above effortlessly flapping its wings along with the train.

The Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmead ten hours later. The students filed out of the train, excited for the beginning of school, the first years going with Hagrid to the boats and everyone else taking the carriages. While the students were just starting off toward the castle, Albus Dumbledore sat alone in his office, in a quite different mood. He was worrying about a memory that kept coming to mind recently. Dumbledore walked over to a cabinet and opened it revealing a shallow silver dish. He took out a wand, held it to his temple, pulled out a silvery wisp of memory and placed it in the dish. For a second the smoke showed a window view of a small boy of about two years with a lightning bolt scar being hit and tormented by a much larger blonde boy around the same age. The image died away showing plain smoke in the bowl again. He looked slightly relieved and turned to talk to a painting of a small feeble man, whose short white hair was almost gone, "The students are boarding the boats and carriages now."

"Are there many new students this year?" the man asks.

"There are always many new students, my dear Armando," Dumbledore chuckles.

Three taps echoed through the room: _dund, dund, dund_. Three more taps: _dund, dund, dund_. Dumbledore looked to the window to see a large black bird with a crisp white letter in its beak tapping with its talon on the window: _dund, dund, dund_.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, I'm coming." Dumbledore murmured and opened the window to let the Raven enter. "Is this for me?" he said gesturing toward the letter. The bird flew past Dumbledore, placed the letter on his desk and landed on the visitor chairs arm. Dumbledore sat in his seat and took the letter. "Someone has already opened it? Ah, I see:_ '_Reading others letters is a very disgusting deed but I'll allow it so that you may see that no harm is meant_.' _So you weren't trusted by someone on the way here, who was it may I ask?" more words appeared above the others and he read "Oh, so it's 'Mr. Arthur Weasley and his wife Mrs. Weasley' then that means you followed them to Hogwarts, didn't you? After they read this letter they decided to let you. Well then let me see what is in this letter you have for me." He read the letter keeping his blank expression. Dumbledore stared at the letter for a few seconds before looking up and into the eyes of the Raven, "so your animagus is a Raven, Victoria," he asked the Raven.

"Yes" the bird answered firmly with the voice of a small girl. The bird hopped down from the chair and morphed into a small girl in shabby and dirt caked old clothes with raven black curly hair and startlingly bright green eyes. The girl smiled a shy no-teeth smile that cutely showed off her large dimples. She saw something in Dumbledores face, frowned and said, "I thought it was a good thing to be able to do that…is it bad?"

"No, that's very good, Victoria. Is that right? Your name is Victoria?"

"That is what I was named, but is it alright if I want to be called something else?"

"Yes, that's fine, what would you like to be called?"

She thought for only a second and said very slowly, and chose her words carefully, "My name is my identity … and I don't want to change that ... Is there something the same as Victoria but not so long and boring?"

Dumbledore though for a moment and then suggested, "How about Tori, that's short for Victoria."

"Yes, I like that, Mr. Dumbledore. Oh wait, do you like your name Mr. Dumbledore? Can I call you that," she asked, talking very nervously and excitedly, not knowing how to convey her emotion.

He chuckled at this and replied, "You can call me Professor Dumbledore or just Professor since I'm the Headmaster here."

"Okay, Professor Dumbledore! Does that mean I can stay?"

"Yes, at least for now."

"Thank you so much, Professor! This means so much to me!"

"I will have a House Elf show you where to go. I have to go to the Great Hall; my students will be there shortly," Dumbledore explained and called out into the air at nothing in particular, "Minnie," there was a loud crack and a small creature that looked like a cross between a Human and a Chihuahua wearing a pillowcase appeared out of a puff of smoke.

"Yes master," she said with a small, high voice that sounded as if she'd sucked in a balloon full of helium.

"I would like you to take care of this girl, she is not a student but somewhat of a long-term guest. Show her to the room behind the Unicorn statue on the 10th floor. She will be your new "Master" for the most part but you still work for Hogwarts primarily, alright?"

"Yes sir, I'll do that sir,"

"Oh yes and bring her food from the kitchens, she'll be eating in her room."

"Yes sir."

"Well off I go, goodbye," he spoke while closing the door behind him leaving the two alone in his office.

"We must go to your room now, Master." The house elf held out her arm and Tori grabbed it. There was another large crack and they appeared in front of a statue of a Unicorn: it was a pure white stone depicting a slim horse with a long flowing main and a sharp spiral horn.

Tori stared at the statue remembering a somber place with no kind visitors. She remembered a place where she watched from the trees, where one day she found an Eternal Rose (a rose that not even time can kill) growing from the spot she had always perched on and brought it as a final tribute to a small patch of dirt with a unicorn bust watching over it.

Tori was snapped out of her trance with the sound of a small, yet steady voice, "We'd like to go in now please," the house elf told the statue. The statue nodded but didn't move forward. "Would you go pet it please, Master? It likes the touch of a witch; all you have to do is guide it off the ledge. I usually just apparate in but only one house elf can apparate in a room at a time, including side-along apparations." Tori walked up and patted the unicorn's neck and leaving her hand on its neck, she walked forward guiding the unicorn's way off the ledge. Behind the unicorn was a frosted glass door. Tori opened the door to find what looked like a classroom with dark brown walls and swan white stone floors with five rows of half-circle mahogany benches facing toward a wall of bookshelves bordering the sides and top of a blackboard, and in front of the blackboard sat a long mahogany desk and a red cushioned armchair. "Well, let us get moving on now," the house elf closed the door and passed Tori and walked toward the wall of bookshelves.

Just before she reached the wall she turned and entered an opening in the wall, reappearing to beckon Tori to follow her. Tori followed and saw that the opening lead to a staircase that curved back in the direction of the room so that whatever was behind the frosted glass door at the top of the stairs was above the previous room. Tori tried to turn the golden handle but it wouldn't budge, she looked to the house elf to ask why but she answered her question before Tori even asked, "I was assigned all of the unoccupied rooms, I had to clean each one of the unused rooms each month, but that was a laid back job. I have the keys to the locked doors, and that's why Mr. Dumbledore chose me to come," the house elf explained very proudly while pulling out and looking through a key ring packed with hundreds of keys of all different shapes, sizes and colors.

She took a small silver key out of the key ring, unlocked the door and placed it back on the key ring. Tori opened the door and this time it revealed an elegant emerald green hallway with even more frosted glassed doors. The house elf guided her into the first door on the left which contained a small sitting room with a mahogany desk in the corner and two matching mahogany bookshelves on either side of a cozy fireplace."You can get comfortable here, the bedroom is the room next door, and next to that is a dining room all on the left side of the hall; the bathroom, a small kitchen and pantry are all on the right side of the hall," The house elf said as she started up a fire, "You can explore around as you wish."

"Thank you, Miss…," she was cut-off.

The house elf gasped, "-Miss?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, is it Missis?"

The house elf gasped again, "No, witches and wizards don't call me, or any of us house elves, miss, missus or mister!"

"Well why not? If you are nice enough for me to respect you or you are older than me (which you are both) I should respect you with a title; if you were not nice or older I would not be formal with you, well unless you were a really important person like the Minister of Magic."

"Well….thank you master, I think, but it is strange to be called that…"

"Okay, then we can make a deal, I will not call you miss and you will not call me master. Is that a deal?"

"….Deal,"

"So what is your name?"

"My name's Minnie and what's yours?"

"My name is Tori; I just got it you know! Professor Dumbledore gave it to me!"

"Really, he named you?"

"No, he suggested a pet-name for me because I did not like my name. Say, Minnie, do you like your name?"

"It was given to me by my master," she sounded almost forcefully cheerful.

"Dumbledore suggested a name for you too?"

"No, it was my master before that. Once I didn't need my mother anymore my master let me free saying they only needed the four house elves they had. I came to Hogwarts after that and the Headmaster is my master now."

"So your mother did not name you?"

"She did, she named me Vinakdne," the house elf announced in a truly happy voice this time.

"She named you Vinkentei?

The house elf laughed, "That's why my old master named me Minnie instead."

"No! I am going to get this right, names are important. They tell us a lot about the individual, like where they're from, what species they are, and what kind of family they come from. A name defines the individual. So tell me how to say it again and I am going to get it right," she said this like she was reciting something, but was enthusiastic all the same.

"It's Vin-ehk-de-nei" she said pronouncing it slowly.

"Vin-ak-di-nei"

"No it's, Vin-EHK-DE-nei"

"Okay, Vin-ek-de-nei"

"That's close enough"

"No, I want to get it perfect! Say it again!"

"Vin-EHK-de-nei"

"Vind-ehk-de-nei"

"No, VIN-ehk-de-nei"

"Vin-ehk-de-nei"

"You got it!"

"Okay, Vinakdne, can I call you that then?"

"Yes, I've always liked that name." Vinakdne answered cheerfully, poking at the fire. "Are you hungry? I can go get you some dinner."

"Well, what do you have to eat?"

"Anything you want."

"I have seen all these candy shops and restaurants everywhere, but I've only gotten scraps and trash people don't want and all I have in the newspaper were news about food poisoning and new magical inventions. So, well what I am trying to say is that I just do not know any foods that would sound appetizing," Tori stated pitifully.

"I'll just bring bits of everything they served in the Great Hall for the Students then, and I'll bring you some clothes too. What's your favorite color?"

"My favorite color, you say? I would think it would have to be green, the color of happiness, like my eyes, my brother always said they gave a pretty reflection; that when he looked into my eyes all he saw was a bright green, happy world," she spoke proudly, standing slightly taller (not that it mattered, the house elf was already about three feet shorter than her).

"The green will be really pretty with your eyes too, and make it stand out so that everyone can be able to see that happy green even more," said Vinakdne; Tori smiled at this and laid down by the fire to rest her tired arms, she'd been flying for a long time. Tori closed her eyes and as she was drifting to sleep, she thought of a nice hot meal that she'd seen a couple sharing, she thought of an elegant dining room and could imagine herself there with her brother saying, "We are here, we made it to our safe-base in tag!" There was a loud crack and Vinakdne was gone and at that, Tori was fast asleep.

Tori was shaken awake and opened her eyes to see the face of a familiar house elf inches away. "_Eek!_ Why are you so close," she screamed in surprise.

"Oh, I'm so very sorry, Tori! Did I startle you?"

"Yes, but it's alright. How long have I slept," Tori asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, remembering all that had happened, separating dreams from reality. She had half her wish come true; she was in the safe place of her dreams but her brother was absent, he hadn't made it to Hogwarts, he was in some other place, under the cold earth with pure white unicorn watching over him.

"Not long, I thought you might want to eat now, it's only been a half hour since I left," Vinakdne answered, "would you like to eat now? The dining room is all set for you. You can take a shower and change when you're done."

"Yes, thank you Vinakdne. Which room did you say the dining room was," Tori inquired, having forgotten the directions she was given before her nap.

"It's the second room after this one on the left; I'll take you there." Vinakdne guided Tori the room next door and it was even more elegant than Tori imagined in her dream. It had peacock blue walls a crystal mini chandelier and a brown table and chair set seating ten with cream colored cushions. It was already set with a feast and food ten times better than the ones in Tori's dream. "I'll leave you to your meal, enjoy."

"Wait, it would be lonely to eat alone. Could you sit with me, Vinakdne," Tori requested.

"I've never sat at a wizard's dining table," Vinakdne explained, "the other house elves would scold me for even thinking of it."

"Well then, could you sit on a cushion on the floor? Or is that asking too much?"

"Of course, I'll just sit here and you enjoy your meal," she said simply sitting on the bare floor. It looked like Tori was about to argue against this set-up but decided against it and instead she asked a question, "Vinakdne, what is Hogwarts like? Do the students have fun here or do they have long boring lessons?" "Both, they have fun and learn; it matters on what you like and what classes you take to decide if it's a long boring class or not. I wouldn't know, though, I can just guess; I've never taken classes here." "Oh well, do you like working here?" She shoved food in her mouth, not thinking to be polite since she hadn't eaten a real meal in her whole life. "Yes, very much; I get treated very nicely and am given work; it's what us House Elves live for." At that more and more questions were asked from the range of, "Why do House Elves wear pillow cases," and, "How old is Mr. Dumbledore," which was all treated with a cheerful answer no matter if the answer was quite depressing. When Tori had finished her meal, Vinakdne snapped her long skinny fingers and with a_ pop_, and the dirty plates were gone. Tori was showed to the bathroom across the hall and took a long, hot, lavender bath. She stepped out of the tub and took a white towel to dry off. She wrapped herself in the towel, and almost touching the doorknob she remembered the nice wooden floors and elegance of the hallway; she didn't know what to do so she just feebly called out, "Vinakdne." The House Elf appeared at once in front of her with a loud _crack_. "I have clothes and toiletries here for you; I'm guessing that's what you wanted," she spoke, thrusting a small wooden chest about the size of an adult cat toward Tori. "I'll leave you to get ready," she ended, and left with a loud _crack_. Tori opened the box to see a greenflannel cotton nightgown in a long-sleeved version for cold weather and a short-sleeved version for warm weather. She put on the long-sleeved nightgown and simple undergarments then she took out a hair brush and after ten minutes of struggling all of her tangles were out. Lastly she brushed her teeth and packed everything back into the box and stepped into the hallway. Tori remembered that the bedroom was the second door on the left and opened the door to sure enough see a bedroom. It had a mahogany dresser to the left of the door, right of the door in the center of the wall was a mirror that reflected the light blue walls and queen-sized bed on the opposite side of the room, and on the far side of the room opposite to the door was a window looking out to a small hut with grey smoke billowing out the top. She had been standing at the door staring out the window from a distance for a while before noticing what she was doing. She quickly closed the door and placed the box on the dresser. She lay down in the bed, quickly falling asleep.

Tori woke up and changed into the beautiful green robes that were waiting for her on the dresser. She stepped out of the door and called "Vinakdne," but she didn't come. Then a tiny old man with a long white beard appeared around the corner and beckoned her to follow him; she went around the corner and her mind went black. She came back to herself and she was inside a small hut with the old man; she was lying on the floor and he was sipping tea across from her with a small box in between them. The old man noticed she had woken up and motioned for her to sit up, she did so and the old man handed her the box. She was curious, so she opened the box and a cloud of steam came rushing out; the steam came out in such quantities and force that she was lifted into the air and up through the chimney. She was stuck inside the steam up in the air and couldn't see her hand in front of her nor anywhere at all ahead of her, but then she remembered her animagus and flapped hard enough that the steam went away and she kept flying through an empty blue sky until she saw a forest. She had a longing for the forest but decided not to go in, there were more important things to do, then she saw the Hogwarts castle and flew up to a large window and tapped with her talons: _dund, dund, dund, dund, dund, dund_. Nobody came to the window and finally the glass shattered with a deafening _crack_. She had woken up to the sound of Vinakdne apparating yet again into the room. "I'm sorry did I wake you?" "That is fine; it was not much of a pleasant dream, anyway." She rolled out of bed, wiping sweat off her brow. "Did you come to wake me or did you have another purpose," she asked plainly, still not fully awake. "I came to drop off some day clothes and I needed wake you. Mr. Dumbledore asked to see you in about an hour and a half. You might want to eat and get dressed; I have breakfast made for you." They entered the dining room, Tori sat at the head of the table where food and drink already lay. She enjoyed her fruit, sausage, pancakes, fried egg and toast with juice and was fully stuffed with still a lot of food left over. Vinakdne snapped her fingers and the dirty plates disappeared. Tori washed her face and put on the day clothes Vinakdne gave her. It was a green sleeveless cotton school dress with a bow and over that she put on a black hooded cloak. It was a decided time to leave for Dumbledores office, five minutes before the planned time, and with a large crack they appeared in front of a Griffin statue. "Butterbeer," Vinakdne spoke clearly toward the statue and it hopped off its ledge revealing a staircase

. They followed the stairs until they reached a large double door with a knocker in the shape of a Phoenix. Tori banged the knocker against the door three times and stepped away, waiting. "Come in," a voice sounded on the other side of the door. Opening the door slowly, Tori recognized the room as Dumbledores office, the same one she had entered as a bird just yesterday. Everything was in the exact same place as before, every quill, every book, every little piece of paper but there was one difference; instead of a single person in the room there were many witches and wizards standing around the room looking solemn. She stepped forward into the room uncertainly; with all of their eyes focused on her she had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She was lead to a seat by some tall, stern-faced lady of them all with her black hair tied up in a tight bun. The seat had its back to Dumbledores desk, facing the crowd of people. It felt as if she were in a court room and she was being accused of a horrible thing that they had yet to decide if she was guilty. They stared down at her like birds going for their prey, ready to swoop down for the kill. "Tori, these are the teachers of Hogwarts. They are here to decide if you should stay or not," Dumbledore spoke, appearing out of some place in the room behind her. "I thought you said I could already." "I said at least for now, do you have doubts they want you to stay here?" "Yes, they are giving me a negative feeling, as if they dislike me." "Do you know why?" "I've never met these people, I could not have done something to make them thing badly of me, could I?" "You have done nothing wrong; yet some people believe that you still want to help your father. To stay you have to convince at least thirty of these employees of Hogwarts that you mean no harm." "What should I say?" "Anything, anything at all that might convince them to think otherwise, I've already told them what was in the letter, so that they'd better understand you." "Okay, well, I should start then….I'm happy to be here and I would like to stay and I hope you want me to stay too," she looked around as if she wanted someone else to say something. "Let me introduce myself, I am Professor McGonagall. You could start by telling us why you like it here and why you want to be here," suggested the lady with the tight bun. "It is a pleasure to meet you Professor McGonagall," Tori said politely, "Well, I like it here because … well, Vinakdne was kind to me and Professor Dumbledore was kind to me …. I have a room to my own, a good meal, and decent conversation; I have not had those kinds of things since….," she paused to think and decided not to finish this statement and moved on, "I want to be here because it is the only place I can think of that is safe. My brother once told me that when he was eleven he would come to Hogwarts; that here we would be safe from our father, because Albus Dumbledore was here and our father could never defeat him," she said quickly and more sure of herself than the other reasons. Nobody commented, but then a lanky woman with blonde frizzy hair and oversized coke-bottle glasses asked, "Why do you need a safe place are you in danger? Did you have a vision," she asked excitedly. "A vision, what do you mean by that?" "Do you have the seer's eye? Have you seen into the beyond, into the future?" "I do not quite understand; I have not seen the future, but I do have a feeling; I have a feeling that he is still out there, well I know he is dead, but … not. Do feelings count, are they," she paused, thinking of a word, "….trustworthy?" "Silly feelings mean nothing," a man that looked like a balding, short and grumpy Father Christmas said coldly, "They aren't as_ trustworthy_ as magic," "Alright, I have no proof but I have heard rumors from migrating birds that there is a forest in Albania where birds and rats never return out of. There have also been rumors of disappearances near there." "Rumors, all rumors, of course," the man pointed out. "Yes, I guess so," Tori admitted. "Any other questions for her," Dumbledore asked the crowd. When nobody answered someone spoke up, "Yes, I have one. What might you be doing here, when you're not old enough to go to classes," inquired a short man with slightly bald gray frizzy hair and matching beard. "I would do anything you ask of me, as long as I can stay here! I could clean the toilets or I could…..monitor the hallways, or carry messages between teachers." "I have a question for you. Why should we trust you at all," spoke a hunchbacked man with thin gray hair from the back of the room who, unlike others, didn't step forward to speak. "I have no reason to make you trust me. Trust is gained through actions not from me telling you," Tori stated plainly. "All right, if anybody opposes her staying here say 'I' and please step forward." Dumbledore walked to stand behind Tori as he spoke. "I," echoed through the room making Tori feel about four people seemed to disagree. There was the hunchbacked man with thin grey hair and a nasty sneer, a greasy haired man with charcoal eyes, a tall bony ash blonde haired woman, and the Santa Clause man with a sour look on his face. "Tori, these are: Argus Filch, Severus Snape, Joyce Bade and Carrick O'Doherty. You have all the people you need to stay, but you may hear their reasoning if you wish," Dumbledore said, pointing to the people as he said their names. "Yes, I would," Tori stated blankly. "She seems like trouble, Professor, no good trouble," Filch talked facing more toward Dumbledore but kept glancing over at Tori out of the corner of his eye, failing to look dignified at all. "I have my reasons Professor, I've told you them already," Snape proclaimed with a cold drawling voice; he stared straight at Dumbledore, paying no mind to Tori. "Excuse me, sir? Do I know you," Tori inquired. "No, I don't believe you do…." "Wait, I think I remember your voice from somewhere, are you sure?" "Quite, but I think this discussion is over, she clearly staying, is she not," Snape ignored her again directing the conversation back over to Dumbledore. "We have yet to hear from dear Professor Bade and O'Doherty. You would like to hear their opinions won't you," he asked Tori. She nodded and Dumbledore gestured for one of them to speak.

O'Doherty spoke up, "I just think this is fishy, just why would You-Know-Who have children? This must be a lie." Tori was about to speak up when Bade broke in, "It's not like he wasn't human; every person has to have at least a little love in them. But, if I heard the story right from what Professor Dumbledore, he wasn't a very loving father. My only concern is that with a Raven comes something bad, it's an omen of death."

At this Tories face went blank and she recited to no one in particular,

"'_The Raven,_

_Who has sinned so many times_

_He will never be forgiven_

_He who looks down on us and laughs_

_His song of temptation and feathers of black_

_He's spying on you_

_He'll be waiting for the wars to end to get his little snack_

_He'll be looking for the clue_

_To finding all your secrets,_

_The sinner and the Demon_

_He'll steal and lie to get what he wants_

_A bad omen_

_There won't be any fingerprints_

_Messenger of death_

_Sent to take the souls of the accursed_

_After they're last breath._'" Nobody spoke, they just stared. It was unexpected and shocking to have a little girl say something so sinister.


End file.
